Down Time?

Finally...a down day! Although when you have 3 kids do you ever really have a down day? My down day will be filled with grocery shopping, cleaning, cooking, etc. I don't think all three of these task are going to be completed today. Aly's heading to my in-laws later this week so hopefully as I round out my week I'll be able to accomplish a few of these tasks with only two kids in tow.

The end of last week was pretty laid back, we sent the girls with Grandma for a couple of days so Corey could rest and so that I would have to chase all 3 kids 24/7 by myself. On Saturday Corey took the girls to get some fireworks and then we took the kiddos downtown to the VP Fair (I know it's called Fair St. Louis but when you've grown up calling it the VP Fair all your life some things just stick...most St. Louisans still call it the VP Fair). We did the kids activities and then caught up with my sister and her family, my brother and cousins to watch TRAIN perform and see the fireworks. TRAIN was really good, they sound awesome live, just like on the radio. And there is nothing like seeing the fireworks under the Arch when you are 3 & 5...and even 31 for that matter.

We went to our annual Hopkins Family BBQ on Sunday after church. My "Texas" parents help host and put this on every year (My sister and I joked about needing a flow chart to describe our family so people understand...I have 5 brothers and 3 sisters, my sister has 4 sisters and 2 brothers...are you confused yet?). It's such a great time and so fun to be with all of my family that I don't get to see as often as I would like.

Yesterday I took all three kids (without Corey) to Six Flags. At first I felt like I was crazy but I had plenty of help, my sister and her kiddos were there, my brother and cousins so everyone took my kids on rides while I pushed everyone's stuff around the park in my "limo" and fed Joel. The girls had a blast and my little 5 year old Aly rode the Screaming Eagle! I was shocked that you only had to be 42 inches to ride (she's 44 inches). She was so brave! I was really apprehensive about letting her go on the ride but she really wanted to and my cousin Katie promised to hold on tight and take good care of her. She got off the ride totally pumped and so proud! She is excited to ride it again this weekend with her Daddy.

Feeling Worn Out

Some days you have more energy than others! Our church had a 30 hour Bible Bootcamp for the kids ages 3-11 last Thursday and Friday so I've been trying to recover from that. I'm having a hard time keeping my head above water the last few days. I need some serious downtime. I keep telling Corey I need a tropical vacation, just the two of us. I need to lay around poolside with a good book, get some sun on this very white body and only worry about myself for a few days.

This week seems just as busy as the last. My sis is in town from Dallas for a few weeks so I will be seeing her and my nieces on and off for the next few weeks. Corey's having a minor procedure this Thursday (no more kids for us), I have to wrap things up with March of Dimes this week. My grant expires on July 5th and to make things "legal" I have to take a month off and be rehired back on in August. I'll be a temporary employee for another 6 months and hopefully they will be able to create a permanent position for me based upon our success. It's 4th of July weekend and we have our annual family BBQ on Sunday. Geesh, I'm already tired just thinking about all of this.

I've been catching up on blogs this morning, I don't have near as much time for blogging as I used to. I'm sure that will change when we get into the swing of things. One of the blogs I visit had pics from the family's vacation and they have two very beautiful girls. Corey and I have been reflecting on our own beautiful girls since Al starts Kindergarten in 7 weeks. The pics of their girls and thinking of our own girls reminded me of a funny thing Corey read that he was telling me about. We were getting ready or had just had Joel and we were discussing circumcision. He said "When you have a boy you only have to worry about his penis, when you have girls you have to worry about everyone else's penis." Wow, this is funny but so true!

One more thing I want to share is the birth announcement that my sister designed for Joel. It's just a rough draft, we have a little more tweaking to do before we go to print but it is absolutely precious. Enjoy!

On Our Own

Today is our first day on our own. Mom went back to Texas and Corey is at work. I didn't get out of bed til 8am. Of course the little man had me up at 1:15 am and then again at 5:00am. Say some prayers for us, we are going to need them. We are going to tackle grocery shopping this morning (by the time we get out the door it may be the afternoon)! Apparantly my family thinks we have no food in this house. Wish us luck on my first endeavor with all 3!

We took Joel to the pool for the first time on Saturday. I tried to get more pictures but my hubby was being uncooperative. I guess he was embarrassed about me trying to snap all these pictures of him holding Joel in front of our entire subdivision.

One of my best girlfriends's from high school had her baby last week so we went to visit them in the hospital. I promised Nicole I wouldn't post a pic of her and I with our babies but I got some of the cutest pics of Avery and Joel. Avery was 23 inches long...can you believe it? She's bigger as a newborn than Joel is at 2 1/2 weeks old. We joked that if they are going to get married Joel needs to get to the gym and bulk up! Nicole is brining her two girls over next week to "play". My sis will be in town from Dallas and she is going to photograph her kiddos and my kiddos. It should be fun. Congrats again Nicole, Mike and Delaney! Avery is absolutely precious!

What We've Been Doing

This picture pretty much explains it all. We spent all day yesterday laying around, watching movies and snoozing. I came down with a fever on Sunday night and had it all day yesterday...my good friend (maybe I should say evil friend), Mastitis, came to visit me again. Mastitis came to visit after I had Ashley too, how nice. I'm feeling much better today now that I have drugs and hopefully nursing will be a snap for me now and not be so painful.

Tea for two and two for tea!

Yesterday my Mom took us girls (and boy) and my Omi to Miss Aimee B's Tea Room for lunch. We had a lovely, fancy lunch. The girls were a big hit with their "Gigi Braids" and when Opi picked up Omi he was able to sneak in for a pic with the girls! Enjoy!

It's already been a week??

Where did the last week go? I looked at the clock at 6:10pm and told Corey "one week ago this time Joel was 20 minutes old". If I'm feeling weepy about his 1 week birthday can you imagine what his 1 year birthday will be like for me? On Aly's first birthday I couldn't stop crying...they grow up so fast!

Joel was able to be off of the bilibed by Friday and what a difference it makes for sleeping. He is sleeping for 5-6 hour stretches overnight and we've even had to wake him up to feed him. He's such a good, sweet baby...it sure doesn't take long to fall in love!

Speaking of falling in love, Corey and I celebrated our 11th Anniversary on Friday. We took Joel to Red Lobster and enjoyed a very quite dinner (our eyes were pretty much glazed over the whole time due to exhaustion) before we went to pick the girls up from Corey's parents. We are planning to go on a real date to celebrate soon...I'm thinking The Melting Pot!

Today was our first time as a family of 5 to go to church. That process was interesting. We got to church with about 10 minutes to spare. We were both in service today so it'll be really interesting when we have to be there early next week since Corey will be working in KOF with the kiddos.

My mom will be here tonight...looking forward to her visit. Here are a few pics from this last week!

See Joel's Newborn Pics

Joel's Newborn Pics